CrustyBrau
Well-Known Member
So, a few batches back, I did three almost identical batches in a row. These were a Snow Cap clone, FWIW. The first and last were good, but the middle one had a weird flavor to it. I'm now reading about autolysis, and thinking maybe that was it, even though I can't find a taste description that really jumps out at me as "that's it, that's what I tasted".
The first and last batch, I used White Labs California Ale yeast, pitched right out of the vial. On the middle batch, I used a Wyeast American Ale smack pack. I smacked it pretty early, and by the time I pitched it, it was puffed up good and firm. That batch went ape sh*t and blew the lid off the fermenter and put quite a bit of foam out on top of the fermenter, while the White Labs batches never even put anything up in the bubbler. Now I'm reading that over pitching can cause increased autolysis, and I think maybe my smack pack batch was over pitched.
The best way I can describe what that batch tasted like is, a tasteless citrus like sourness, combined with a thinner than normal mouth feel. Almost like it had lime juice in it. Not enough to make it bad, and I don't even think my wife noticed it, but it was very obvious to me. There was no "rotten" smells, no yeastiness, or anything else. Just the odd sour overtone.
Autolysis ya think? Or?
The first and last batch, I used White Labs California Ale yeast, pitched right out of the vial. On the middle batch, I used a Wyeast American Ale smack pack. I smacked it pretty early, and by the time I pitched it, it was puffed up good and firm. That batch went ape sh*t and blew the lid off the fermenter and put quite a bit of foam out on top of the fermenter, while the White Labs batches never even put anything up in the bubbler. Now I'm reading that over pitching can cause increased autolysis, and I think maybe my smack pack batch was over pitched.
The best way I can describe what that batch tasted like is, a tasteless citrus like sourness, combined with a thinner than normal mouth feel. Almost like it had lime juice in it. Not enough to make it bad, and I don't even think my wife noticed it, but it was very obvious to me. There was no "rotten" smells, no yeastiness, or anything else. Just the odd sour overtone.
Autolysis ya think? Or?